Elon Musk Prioritizes Moon City Project Over Mars, Cites Accessibility
According to the Economic Desk of Webangah News Agency, Elon Musk has announced that while SpaceX continues its long-term goal of building a city on Mars, the immediate priority will be the development of a lunar settlement. Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, stated that the company is concentrating on creating a “self-sufficient city” on the Moon, with the potential for realization in less than 10 years. Musk explained on the social media platform X that Mars journeys are feasible only when planetary alignments occur every 26 months, considering the six-month travel time. In contrast, he noted, trips to the Moon can be made every 10 days with a two-day journey. This difference in transit times means a lunar city can be established significantly faster than one on Mars. SpaceX still intends to pursue Musk’s ambition of establishing a Martian city within the next five to seven years, but the paramount objective is to secure the future of human civilization, a goal achievable more swiftly on the Moon. Musk’s recent statements align with a report published by The Wall Street Journal last Friday, which indicated that SpaceX had informed investors of its increased focus on lunar missions, deferring Mars endeavors to a later date and targeting a robotic lunar landing by March 2027. This announcement follows Musk’s declaration late last year of plans for an uncrewed mission to Mars by the end of 2026. The United States is engaged in a competitive race with China to return humans to the lunar surface, a scenario not seen since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. Less than a week prior, Musk revealed that SpaceX had acquired xAI, an artificial intelligence company he also leads, effectively merging the two entities. Proponents view this integration as a strategic move for SpaceX to enhance its capabilities for space-based data centers. Musk believes these extraterrestrial facilities will be more energy-efficient than terrestrial ones, especially as the demand for computational power escalates with the advancement of AI.
